What Moneygram, Xoom and HiFX have in common

| Wednesday, February 8th, 2017

Last week news broke that ANT Financial (a financial services affiliate of Alibaba) would be purchasing transfer provider MoneyGram for $880m. The acquisition is likely intended to provide a global platform for the expansion of ANT Financial's popular AliPay service.

How does this transaction stack up to other mergers in the space? We put together the following chart showing some of the biggest M&A deals of the past decade:


Transfer Industry Mergers Infographic


We expect M&A activity in the sector to increase as larger providers purchase upstart rivals and large, non-payment companies (think: wireless carriers, online platforms, etc.) look to buy their way in. Consolidation of existing players, such as Global Reach Partners recent purchase of FC Exchange in August of 2016, is likely to continue as well.

We await the first billion dollar deal ...


Still flowing...

While the Trump administration has halted travel to the United States for citizens of seven countries, remittance flows are as-of-yet untouched. Here are the annual remittance outflows from the U.S. to the targeted countries, as well as total inflows from those countries to the U.S.

Remittance outflows from countries caught in U.S. travel ban


The countries in question make up only a small percentage of the U.S.'s annual remittance outflows. In 2015, U.S. outflows totaled $135 billion.


The latest in international payments: Our favorite news and articles

 

Targeting mobile. Retailer Target has announced they will debut a mobile payment solution for customers to use in-stores over the course of the coming year. ReCode.

AirPay?. Rental startup AirBnB is rumoured to be considering a buy-out of international payment company Tilt, in order to boost their mobile payment capabilities. Engadget.

Effective controls. According to the latest SWIFT payment data, use of Chinese Renminbi fell 29.6% year-over-year in 2016 in part due to increased capital controls. Financial Times.

Mutually beneficial. Payment processing company Square is waiving transaction fees for businesses when their customers use Apple Pay. The move is designed to promote wider adoption of mobile payment infrastructure. Bloomberg.


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